MINNEAPOLIS—One of Minnesota’s largest car dealers is closing six of dealerships and selling three others effective immediately.

WCCO-TV reported Friday night that 400 employees of the Denny Hecker Automotive Group are going to be out of a job. The company said the sour economy and the crisis in the auto industry are forcing its hand.

“The decision to realign our dealership came as we found ourselves in the midst of a ‘perfect storm’ of economic bad news: a financial crisis on Wall Street, chaos in the housing market, consumer confidence at all time low, and the sight of the Big Three (automakers) on their knees in Washington asking for a bailout loan,” Denny Hecker Automotive Group President Barbara Jerich said in a statement Friday night.

Jerich said the company is restructuring to focus on the dealerships with the most potential.

“We needed a new business model built around our dealerships with the most potential volume and value,” she said. “Going forward, our management team will immediately focus on those remaining dealerships and on developing a new business model, one that delivers our customers less hassle, greater choice and more bang for their buck.”

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